It’s easy to wrap cubes but how do you wrap awkwardly shaped gifts, like plants, balls and bicycles? I’ve done some research to give you the best solutions for all shapes and sizes of presents.
Small awkwardly shaped gifts
Oddly shaped ornaments and similar awkwardly shaped gifts can be really difficult to wrap if you don’t have a box for them. Of course you could always repurpose a box you have lying around if it’s the right size and cover it to hide it’s original purpose.
Gift bags also make it easy to present oddly shaped gifts. But I’ve found that Sod’s Law frequently dictates that any gift bag you can find is too narrow, too wide, too short, too tall or a combination of these! Have you ever tried to find a gift bag the right size and shape to fit a football in?!
In situations where you don’t have a suitable box or bag to use, the best solution is to create a diy gift bag to fit. It’s easier than you think!
Here’s how:
Lay out your wrapping paper or brown paper. It’s helpfulto use quite heavyweight paper if possible, so it doesn’t tear. Lay the gift on top of it and cut enough to cover the gift with a bit of overlap and plenty of space above and below.
Mark the centre of the wrapping paper and fold the two sides towards it, overlapping slightly. Seal with tape or glue.
Fold both layers of the bottom upwards to create the base. Make sure that you’re making it wide enough to fit the gift.
Now create a diamond shape by folding the bottom layer back down, as shown.
Fold the top and bottom of the diamond shape towards the centre of the base. Seal with tape or glue.
The base is now formed. You can now pop your awkwardly shaped gift inside, perhaps loosely covered with some tissue paper.
Fold the top over to close the gift and punch a couple of holes through it.
Finally thread some ribbon through, add a gift tag and tie a bow.
That’s it! This will accommodate almost any shape gift as long as the paper is large enough.
Wrapping plants
You can wrap potted plants using the same gift bag method as described above. Just make sure to leave plenty of room at the top and don’t fold any of the leaves over by mistake! Obviously the plant should be watered beforehand and only wrapped just before giving to the recipient.
Alternatively you could leave the top open. Use tissue paper to hide the plant then just fold over the very top (about an inch) a couple of times and then instead of tying shut with a bow you can create ribbon handles.
Wrapping multiple bottles
While single bottles are easily presented in a gift bag or box, if you have two bottles they can be awkward to wrap together. One solution is to wrap each one separately in tissue paper before placing in a wider gift bag. Alternatively, watch this video on how to wrap two bottles together using a furoshiki cloth technique. It even creates a handy carrying handle!
How to wrap large gifts
Large gifts like bicycles, guitars, furniture, etc are also awkward to wrap, not least because you’ll find it really difficult to find wrapping paper large enough to cover the gift. If the gift comes in a large box, you can use several sheets of paper and hide the joins with ribbon or decorative washi tape if necessary.
Large awkwardly shaped gifts
Large gifts that are also awkwardly shaped can be a bit more of a challenge, but here are some suggestions:
- Use a tablecloth – you could use a disposable paper tablecloth instead of wrapping paper as they come in all sorts of colours and both plain and patterned. Or use a real tablecloth that they can reuse afterwards. For fabric you can sew it closed instead of using tape or just use ribbon to hold it all in place.
- Bed sheets or a duvet cover can also work well for very large gifts.
- For something like a bicycle it can help to wrap it in bubble wrap beforehand. This will cover and soften the edges of all the bits that would otherwise tend to poke through paper. You can then use a large roll of gift wrap or brown paper to wrap around it and secure with a bit of tape.
With these ideas, you should be able to handle just about any awkwardly shaped gifts that need wrapping. Tag me on Instagram if you post any pictures of your own oddly shaped gift wrapping solutions!
